Monitor: Israeli settlers uproot 50 olive trees in Nablus

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Tuesday uprooted 50 olive tree saplings near the village of al-Lubban al-Sharqiya in southern Nablus, a local monitor told Ma'an.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said that the saplings belonged to village resident Majed Samih Daraghmeh.

The olive industry supports the livelihoods of roughly 80,000 families in the occupied West Bank, and settlers often attack olive trees in a bid to oust Palestinian farmers from their land.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in a Ramallah-district village of Beitillu, in what appeared to have been retaliation for Israel's recent arrest of Jewish extremists.

A number of settlers were reported to have vandalised the home's exterior, smashed a window, and thrown several tear gas canisters inside, causing one nine-month old child to suffer severe tear gas inhalation.

Israel has been criticized by the international community and rights groups for government policies that allow Israeli settlers to attack Palestinians with impunity.